K30 fried after using in rain

Well earlier I was using the K30 with 18-55 AL WR kit lens in the rain. When I wasn't using it I put it back into the Hama hard case.

Got back to the cold car and left it in the case so it wouldn't suffer from going from cold to warm in a short period. Eventually got back to house around 1 hour later and took it out, it looked fine and worked. I actually spent a while experimenting with enlarger lenses on extension tubes and took some photos.

Took the battery out for a recharge. 3 hours later put it back in and I notice watermarks/stains inside the LCD screen. Then it gave garbled information saying f1.2 for aperture reading!!! f1.2 on a set of manual extension tubes? Then it froze and I had to take the battery out. I tried this several times over and still no change and the water-staining looks like it might be permanent.

The bad news... I think it has only 1 year warranty which ran out in December.

I bought it from Jessops online UK. There is a shop in my city...

So much for your WR advertising Pentax and marketing this as a hikers camera.

Even if it did work again this is clearly not a WR camera.

I know all about the ambiguity surrounding what WR realy means and litigation.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me this is going in the bin with no comeback on it!

Well earlier I was using the K30 with 18-55 AL WR kit lens in the rain. When I wasn't using it I put it back into the Hama hard case.

Got back to the cold car and left it in the case so it wouldn't suffer from going from cold to warm in a short period. Eventually got back to house around 1 hour later and took it out, it looked fine and worked. I actually spent a while experimenting with enlarger lenses on extension tubes and took some photos.

Took the battery out for a recharge. 3 hours later put it back in and I notice watermarks/stains inside the LCD screen. Then it gave garbled information saying f1.2 for aperture reading!!! f1.2 on a set of manual extension tubes? Then it froze and I had to take the battery out. I tried this several times over and still no change and the water-staining looks like it might be permanent.

The bad news... I think it has only 1 year warranty which ran out in December.

I bought it from Jessops online UK. There is a shop in my city...

So much for your WR advertising Pentax and marketing this as a hikers camera.

Even if it did work again this is clearly not a WR camera.

I know all about the ambiguity surrounding what WR realy means and litigation.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me this is going in the bin with no comeback on it!

Standard advice is to put it in a container with silica packets (preferred) or rice (if the former not available). You may also want to be advised that you're supposed to wipe off any remaining liquid when you get out of the rain.

Since the water appeared behind the display cover after opening the battery door, there may not be much mystery as to where the water came from.

So much for your WR advertising Pentax and marketing this as a hikers camera.

Even if it did work again this is clearly not a WR camera.

Yours might not be which suggests a fault in the seals, which is then just like any other failure. Making a claim when the warranty has run out and status of the retailer is unclear (Does "reborn" Jessops have responsibility for "old" Jessops sales) might be a world of frustration. My last two Pentaxes bought from SRS had "two years warranty" written on the receipt, it might be worth checking to see if your warranty really was only one year.

+1 on the rice. One of my K20D's leaked and started overheating (shorted battery?) in the field. Took it home and put it in a bag with a cup of rice for 3 days. No issues since, though I've not taken it out in the pouring rain either. Before I do I think I'll take a look at the gasket with a magnifying glass and make sure there's no hairs or cracks that would cause the leak.

Well earlier I was using the K30 with 18-55 AL WR kit lens in the rain. When I wasn't using it I put it back into the Hama hard case.

Got back to the cold car and left it in the case so it wouldn't suffer from going from cold to warm in a short period. Eventually got back to house around 1 hour later and took it out, it looked fine and worked. I actually spent a while experimenting with enlarger lenses on extension tubes and took some photos.

Took the battery out for a recharge. 3 hours later put it back in and I notice watermarks/stains inside the LCD screen. Then it gave garbled information saying f1.2 for aperture reading!!! f1.2 on a set of manual extension tubes? Then it froze and I had to take the battery out. I tried this several times over and still no change and the water-staining looks like it might be permanent.

The bad news... I think it has only 1 year warranty which ran out in December.

I bought it from Jessops online UK. There is a shop in my city...

So much for your WR advertising Pentax and marketing this as a hikers camera.

Even if it did work again this is clearly not a WR camera.

I know all about the ambiguity surrounding what WR realy means and litigation.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me this is going in the bin with no comeback on it!

Standard advice is to put it in a container with silica packets (preferred) or rice (if the former not available). You may also want to be advised that you're supposed to wipe off any remaining liquid when you get out of the rain.

Thanks for the rice. I didn't get out of the rain, I put the camera in the case.

Since the water appeared behind the display cover after opening the battery door, there may not be much mystery as to where the water came from.

? I opened the battery door when it was dry!

The camera is leaking in somewhere and it definitely wasn't the battery compartment.

+1 on the rice. One of my K20D's leaked and started overheating (shorted battery?) in the field. Took it home and put it in a bag with a cup of rice for 3 days. No issues since, though I've not taken it out in the pouring rain either. Before I do I think I'll take a look at the gasket with a magnifying glass and make sure there's no hairs or cracks that would cause the leak.

So much for your WR advertising Pentax and marketing this as a hikers camera.

Even if it did work again this is clearly not a WR camera.

Yours might not be which suggests a fault in the seals, which is then just like any other failure. Making a claim when the warranty has run out and status of the retailer is unclear (Does "reborn" Jessops have responsibility for "old" Jessops sales) might be a world of frustration. My last two Pentaxes bought from SRS had "two years warranty" written on the receipt, it might be worth checking to see if your warranty really was only one year.

Thanks James,

There clearly is a fault in the seals. I'm not sure about Jessops but usually a company also buys the previous owners responsibilities.

Sorry to hear about your problem. I hope you get it sorted soon without having to replace the camera. Haven't got any advice really, just wanted to say I think the rice may well do the trick. Fingers crossed.

.. created condensation once you opened the battery door / changed the lens.

The camera body was outside, in the rain and cold. The temperature difference is perhaps 15-20 degrees if you account for wind too. Ideally, you should wipe the camera and lens clean and moist free, leave it untouched alone for a few hours in the new temperature to prevent condensation.

I suggest that you now leave the camera in the dark, and moist- and dust-free area at a constant room temperature, with open lens mount and battery door open too. Put a bag of silica under each and keep it like that for half a day at least.

-- hide signature --

Zvonimir Tosic“A portrait is not made in the camera, but on either side of it.”— Edward Steichen

I have a K5 and have had it out in several rain storms with my 50-135 f2.8 without any issues. If you want to see an example go to you tube dot com and search by my name eric wethington and find my Hurricane Sandy vs Edgewater park video. Not the best video, but 30-50 mph winds with waves clearing 50-60 ft past the break walls.

my other thought might have been the pressure change from mountains to a more normal level. You stated in another thread that you were up in the mountains shooting, the pressure change may have gotten to the camera. (AFAIK camera is not pressure resistant, otherwise might be labled water proof to handle minimal underwater pressure)

1.You must wiped clean with microfibre cloth after using in wind and rain. NEVER put back in the hard case once the camera is wet.

Temperature variation and change may develop condensation

Water loss are by these mechanisms, namely Evaporation,Conduction,Convection and radiation.That means there must be water egress in the open.If not ,like keeping in a tight hard case the water could only goes inside (water ingress) due to cohesiveness and capillary action of water.

So it should be put outside of the bag ,wiped thoroughly and kept for at least half day in constant temperature where by all mechanisms of water loss to take place and to create dryness.

Silica gel and rice acts as Adsorbents to the water and they have also suffered plateau effects of saturation depending upon the amount and duration of exposure.

I am not sure about as somebody suggested affects of barometric changes(ambient pressure)

EDIT ADD: used a number of my cameras out in the rain without weather sealed lenses of any sort... had minor problems occur twice but never water inside the body, on the mount contacts yes but not in the body. the 2 issues were minor and fixed themselves when the lens was properly dried/aired out.

Might be useful to you, i dropped my 7D and 400mm/5.6 L in the water last summer, they survived and still work after 1 week with rice:

That's fine Leopold but my problem is I don't have a WR camera, I didn't drop it in water and the seals don't work. It's as good as useless for me not having a weather sealed camera and it will happen again if it ever works again.